Sunday, December 18, 2011

Fuck! Is saying that a sin? Is premarital sex a sin? Is homosexuality really an abomination? These are all things us "christians" grew up being taught was wrong because the Bible tells us so. Or at least I was, and I believe most mainstream christians did too. For some reason though a lot of christians from my generation have started to find the grey area in these "sins." We have started to embrace the fact that you can't just read the Bible literally all the time. You have to read it in context of the culture. Some of us have changed the minds of our parents. But for some reason it's really hard to come by an elderly christian who isn't judgmental and who reads the Bible in context of the times. Not to say that there isn't.

However there are many young conservative christians who have been "brainwashed" as a child and still just can't change their mind about things. People who love to hate the gays and seem to have an unconditional love for their country. I don't know if you've seen the documentary "Jesus Camp," but that's sort of what I'm referring to. I think most of us have heard the arguments on why things aren't so black and white but I'm gonna try to have a go at it myself. Let's first discuss homosexuality. Here is a quote from Galileo... "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." Does it really make sense that a person who is attracted to the same sex can't carry out Jesus' message of love, peace, and forgiveness. That right there should convince you that thinking being gay is a "sin" is pure bullshit. But it probably won't.

"But the Bible says..." That's the most popular response to when you try to tell someone that homosexuality is okay. The Bible says a lot of things. You can use the Bible to say slavery is acceptable. You can use it to say men are superior to women. The point is is that the Bible tends to become this tool to spread hate towards certain people. Plus it is even more ridiculous because Jesus never mentioned the subject of homosexuality. And if you're going to follow any words in the Bible, you ought to follow his. Finally, to conclude, for those who say homosexuality is a choice... Why would someone choose to be something like that when they know it is not culturally acceptable and will be discriminated for it?

So what about cursing now? Is that so bad? First of all, the Bible doesn't say anything about cursing at all. So you can't really use that to defend it. I'm currently living in Los Angeles. Here, everybody swears. Litterally. I've heard pastors in church curse. For me personally, I find it kind of ridiculous that someone could be offend by words. Especially if they're not direct towards the person. The only reason I don't curse is because I grew up around people that were offended by it and I really would rather not offend anybody (Even though it's stupid that someone would be offended by it). Anyway I don't have too much to say about swearing. My best advice would be don't waste your time being offended about something silly like that. You have better things to do.

Let's talk pacifism now. I am very thankful to have grown up Mennonite. If I hadn't I probably wouldn't have even considered the fact that killing people is wrong in all forms (except by accident of course). It just makes sense to me. What gives anyone the right to decide when another human's life should be ended. Even if it's for your self-defense. Nobody can make the decision whether your's or another person's life is more important. If you end a person's life, you eliminate their chance to make themselves right again and apologize for it. Nothing is better than the feeling of forgiveness when you know what you did was very wrong. So yeah, when you kill someone as a punishment, that gets rid of that chance for them to become a better person. Even if it does seem next to impossible for them to change their mind

I saved premarital sex for last because I'm kind of torn with this one. I'm not sure I can necessarily speak for this because I'll be honest and admit it... I'm a virgin. (I know, weird! The average age to loose your virginity right now is 17. I haven't even kissed a girl). I'd like to say it's a personal decision, but really when it comes down to it, It's because I'm just extremely shy. I can't speak for the girls but I know every guy understands the temptation. It's hard. I have heard that there are emotional attachments when it comes to sex that you can't avoid. I don't know if that's true or not because I haven't had sex. I guess it makes sense that there would be something. But I know plenty of married couples that had sex before marriage and ended up fine. Sometimes I just think people are just jealous that others are having multiple sex partners before marriage so they complain about it the most. They think that since they have to wait, everybody else should too. So anyway, I can't decide on this one. This is probably one of those instances where there is never a black and white answer. It really depends on the specific situation.

Friday, December 2, 2011

It has been a true joy working at the Social Services drop in center at Blessed Sacrament. Okay, obviously not everything is all fun and games. I recently had my first review of the year with my supervisors and city director. The biggest thing we discussed is that yes, this is a place for people to receive help finding housing and getting them out of the situation they're in, but first we have to build a personal relationship with them. That's where I'm trying to come in. I like to be humble but I think I DO have a gift for listening. Even though I don't talk much I can still be someone that can just listen to them vent and that helps more than you might think.
Yes, some of the things clients talk to me about is incredibly inappropriate, I know. Things regarding illegal drugs, sex, etc. I have a hard time trying to stay professional when building relationships. Personally I don't think you can mix friendships and stay professional at the same time. What am I supposed to say? "I don't discuss these things with clients." I don't even like to refer to them as clients. Friends can help friends. So yeah, I know it's not all black and white like that. Staying professional is something I can improve on I guess. Just stating my opinion.
I sort of had an epiphany today. I think the reason why I'm so quiet is that I have too much fun watching other people talk. The world is my television. So much so that I forget that I should probably be saying something too. I can really relate to the character Abed from the NBC TV series "Community." Not the part where he's actually a genius. I'm far from that. Just the whole observing people thing but not knowing what is appropriate to say when it's my turn to talk. So I apologize once again if we ever have an awkward moment when talking. (which I can almost guaranty we will. multiple times...)